Music

DWJS Music Development Plan

 The school's 2024-25 Music Development Plan can be viewed via the link below.

Music at DWJS: Vision and Intent

As we often like to say, music is a big deal at Darrick wood Junior School. Music, including instrumental and vocal participation and performance, have long been part of the fabric of day-to-day school life for our pupils. It is something that we are passionate about as a school and we firmly believe that fostering a love of music has the power to transform the lives of young people.

Our vision is for that love of music to be something that all our pupils relate to and value in a way that is personal to them and their experiences. To achieve this long-term aim, we seek to provide all our children with as many musical opportunities and experiences as we can in their time at the school, both formally through class-based music lessons and instrumental tuition, and informally through a wide range of clubs and events that we offer. Whilst the planned curriculum is the starting point for the children’s musical journey, the school’s music offer also allows pupils to embrace numerous extra-curricular activities and opportunities during their time at the school.

Music at DWJS: Implementation

Music lessons at DWJS  provide the pupils with a broad, balanced and accessible music education which supports the progressive development of musical knowledge and skills. As well as developing children's practical musical skills through playing instruments and making music, lessons also provide pupils with the opportunity to appreciate a wide variety of music across a range of genres and begin to understand musical theory.

In accordance with the National Curriculum for music, in their music lessons, children learn to:

• perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
• sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
• understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

Music at DWJS: Extra-Curricular Opportunities

At Darrick Wood Junior we are also extremely proud of the breadth of music-making opportunities that are available to our children.  Almost a quarter of the school have music lessons and they are given opportunities to play together in groups for school events. We are fortunate to have a purpose-built room for our music lessons. It is very well resourced with an extensive range of percussion instruments, including steel pans. All Year 3 children participate in a weekly recorder lesson, and a whole school singing assembly is held each week where the children learn songs in a variety of styles.

A music concert is held in the summer term each year to celebrate the varied musical talents of the children.  This concert is also a culmination of two competitions that we run in school: the Norman Trotman Cup is awarded to the best instrumentalist and the John Austin Cup is presented to the best solo singer.

At Christmas, a Carol Service is held at St. Paul’s Church, Crofton, when our Singing Club and various instrumental groups take a leading role. There are different clubs which meet at lunchtimes, including our extremely popular Singing Club.

As part of the Government’s Wider Opportunities Scheme, all the children in Year 3 currently learn the recorder. As a continuation of this we have been running the ‘Band on the Run project’ in partnership with Bromley Youth Music Trust for many years now, with great success. Our school band, which numbers over 30 children from Years 5 and 6, plays at several annual school concerts and events and has also previously performed at larger events such as the Bromley Schools Prom held at Fairfield Halls, Croydon.

Music at DWJS: Impact

At Darrick Wood Junior School, pupils are taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.

By the end of their time at the school, pupils will have learnt to:

• play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression.
•  improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music.
•  listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
• use and understand staff and other musical notations
• appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians
• develop an understanding of the history of music.

Drama and Performance

All pupils will have the opportunity to take part in school performances during their time at Darrick Wood Junior School. Year 3 pupils put on a Christmas production for parents and they also hold a Recorder Showcase concert for parents in the summer term. Year 6 put on an excellent end of year production in which music and singing are a central feature. Recent performances have included Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.